As part of the 15th year anniversary of Ex-Link Events, the OFW & SME Business Christmas Expo goes to Cebu for the first time! As a way of thanking its partners for the past 15 years, Ex-Link Events gives opportunities for home-based and community livelihood enterprises to exhibit at the Expo.

Partnering with various organizations, such as the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Rotary Community Corps, Congressional Spouses Foundation Inc., Department of Trade and Industry, Cooperative Development Authority, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Junior Achievement of the Philippines Inc., and the Rotary Club of Mutya ng Pasig (District 3800), this first leg of the Expo is expected to be a showcase to a variety of products and services for everyone!

There's more to this year's Expo: We are raffling off trips to Asia and Europe and Negosyo Packages to visiting OFWs, Seafarers and Families - to register, text OFWSME <space> REG <space> Facebook Email <space> Full Name and send to 0917-810-8983! Terms and conditions apply.

See various products and services that will suit your taste this holiday season at the OFW & SME Business Christmas Expo at the Cebu Trade Hall this coming December 2 to 4, 2016, Friday to Sunday, from 10am to 8pm.

Small and Medium Enterprises compose a large part of the economy – home-based and community livelihood enterprises are also part of this segment. From delicious food items to beautiful and elegant decorations, it is a no-brainer that these business thrive through the support of the consumers whom its products are reaching out to. The thing is, most of them are not that easily noticed by the mainstream market.

On its 15th year anniversary, Ex-Link Events is reaching out to home-based and community livelihood enterprises to gather and showcase their best products and services at the OFW & SME Business Christmas Expo this December.

Aside from the exhibits, the OFW & SME Christmas Business Expo is poised to be the grandest Christmas gathering for OFWs, Balik-bayans, SMEs and Community Livelihood Enterprises, partnering with various government and private organizations such as the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, the Rotary Community Corps, Congressional Spouses Foundation, Inc., the Department of Trade and Industry, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Junior Achievement of the Philippines, Inc. and the Rotary Club of Mutya ng Pasig to kick off the yuletide season with a bang with a mix of activities that everyone will enjoy!

The OFW & SME Business Christmas Expo will be held at the Cebu Trade Hall of SM City Cebu on December 2 to 3 (Friday to Sunday) and at the Megatrade Hall 2 of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City on December 21 to 23 (Wednesday to Friday).

Most of you should know that there are only a few huge businesses - and the rest are micro, small and medium enterprises. MSMEs are the ones that needed to be shown so they can develop more. MSMEs are the ones that are in need of specific audiences as the rest of the crowd has been taken by big businesses. Home-Based and Community Livelihood businesses are part of the MSMEs.

Consider the following: We are now in the holiday season, and people are ready to buy stuff for their loved ones or for themselves, but they have to check in different locations just to get the perfect gift. That is aside the fact that as a business, you want to make them buy your product. How can we connect the two together? Through trade fairs, expositions and the like. Ex-Link Events has been doing this for 15 years in Manila, and it's high time that Cebu experience who we are, what we do and what we advocate for MSMEs, and so we are coming there to gather products and services under one roof!

We are giving a chance to home-based businesses to showcase at the OFW & SME Business Christmas Expo Cebu this December 2 to 4 at the Cebu Trade Hall of SM City Cebu! For more information, contact (02) 633-0153, 643-3887, 0920 924 2532 or email info@exlinkevents.com. Limited slots only, so get on your feet and join the Expo!

The Congressional Spouses Foundation Incorporated kicks off the last quarter of this year with the launch of the Kabuhayan National Livelihood and Travel Expo 2016 on November 10-13 at the Megatrade Hall 1 of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.

The annual trade fair which started 15 years ago has become a part of the CSFI’s tradition where local products of every region, like fabrics, delicacies, household products and even travel destinations are featured all in one spot!

Designed specifically to assist and boost the capability of the entrepreneurs, it aims to carve a steady market as well as provide additional skills training through seminars and speeches by resource persons who are known experts in business and production.

“Sustainable Livelihood” becomes a reality and placed within reach for the farmers, micro small and medium entrepreneurs who are mostly women, from the different regions of the country.

This year’s Kabuhayan Expo is made more significant because the CSFI collegiately decided to adopt a sector of society that is often, if not totally marginalized – the spouses and families of inmates at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

To date, there are more than 120,000 inmates under the jurisdiction of the BJMP, which leaves their families without income. Kabuhayan Expo 2016 will also provide specific and customized Entrepreneurship and Livelihood training for the spouses of inmates who would like to have an income while at home.

“Introduction to farm schools and farm tourism is also one of the unique features of this year’s trade fair. We are so excited and hopeful that this event will make a difference in some lives,” said Mrs. Emelita Apostol-Alvarez, President and Chairperson of the CSFI.

Shop the best products from around the country and learn business ideas at the 2016 Kabuhayan National Livelihood and Travel Expo this November 10-13, 2016 at the Megatrade Hall of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.

This annual trade fair will feature different local products and services for every region as well as local destinations. This is one of CSFI’s assistance to promote inclusive growth with our micro small and medium enterprise (MSME), paving the way for them to sell their products and services not only locally but to the global market.

In this trade fair, seminars on business development, marketing and sales and other business segments are expected on the 2nd and 3rd days of the expo. Farm Tourism and Organic Farming is among the interesting topics. The culminating activity would include the awarding of the different booths in the different categories, "Pinapangarap" (Best New Product), "Bighani" (Best Fashion Accessory), "Katakam-Takam" (Best Food Product) and "Lingap" (Best Social Product).

Other than assisting the MSMEs, a portion of the funds raised here will benefit the BJMP Inmates and their families through livelihood training, product innovations and marketing of the items they produce. BJMP is also given a booth in the expo to help them sell their ongoing products.

As
an event organizer, producer and manager, I know that the challenge is to
provide a superb conference experience to the corporate clients, association
clients, sponsors, speakers and delegates.

After
all, events are all about having a great experience.

So
here are my top 5 things to remember to provide a great conference experience
to all stakeholders.

1.Achieve the Realistic
Objectives

I
always have in my hand a list of objectives that are expressed by the clients.
As the process of implementing the event nears, I always look at this list and
tick all the items that are accomplished.

I
know that in the end, I will be accountable to the clients and report to them
if I have achieved the objectives they have set and is expecting that my team
delivered it as promised during the beginning of our partnership.

2.Provide Excellent Service to
the Speakers and VIPs

The
speakers are the one that will lead your events to where it must go, to a place
where delegates will get new found knowledge and inspiration to take action to
their careers and organization.

It
is only fitting that we provide a detailed care to all our speakers. Our care
and hospitality to the speakers, in my experience, translate to their great
performance on stage.

In
addition, never forget the clients that are responsible for having you handled
the wonderful and challenging project, in every step of the way be mindful in
addressing their needs during the actual event.

Regardless,
if your clients are difficult, they selected you to handle the job, make the
feel like a diamond. Give them the VIP treatment.

In
my experience, difficult clients become loyal clients once you satisfy their
needs.

3.Interactive Events

Conference,
Exhibition, Trade Mission and other business events – my specialization, you
should always design this keeping in mind that people love to interact with
each other.

It
is with this reason that I rack my brains finding the best ways to create the
best platform to make the events interactive.

I
use technology to aid me in making the event interactive. At the same time, I
never forget that social interaction like business networking is crucial in
making the event memorable.

So
give ample time on how to achieve this in the most memorable and effective
manner – no hard and fast rule, but when you deliver the goods in this area, the
great reaction of all the event stakeholders is more than enough reward to
your hard work and sleepless nights.

4.Selecting the Right Venue

No
matter how great is your execution it can be hampered if your venue is not
right.

Imagine,
you have great speakers, but the delegates are cramped in their seats because
the venue space is so small for your event.

How
about, designing a great program with a lot of wow to really make your
conference or event something to remember, but the air conditioning system of
the venue is not working. You look around everybody is perspiring and irritated
because of the heat.

Indeed,
the right venue is critical. May I also add, even the venue is right if you
failed to do a site inspection, you might miss a critical detail that may spell
disaster or cause your event to fail.

Therefore,
never forget this favorite dictum of mine, “ God is in the Details”.

5.Happy and Professional Staff

I
am torn between this one and the audio and visual needs of the conference or
event.

But
we are in the business of providing excellent service your staff is the first
touch point that the event stakeholders encounter. Your staff will provide the
first impression of your event. So train and equip them.

In
my country, the Philippines, we are not first in technology when it comes to
event execution. However, we are able to create wonderful events and
conferences because we have a staff with the heart to provide excellent
service. They go the extra mile to satisfy clients and event stakeholders, and
they deliver this with a smile.

So
here I am sixteen years in the business event industry, I say this is my top 5
in providing a great event experience to the clients and other event
stakeholders.

Besides
being an event organizer, manager and creator, I love going to events, and these
five things are also the reasons why I can that the event I attended is a Wow or something to forget and a waste of my time.

In
summary, there are a lot of ways to create a great event experience, but if you
will focus on these 5 things you can never go wrong. They are 1. Achieve the
Realistic Objectives, 2. Provide Excellent Service to the Speakers and VIPs, 3.
Interactive Events, 4. Selecting the Right Venue, and 5. Happy and Professional
Staff.

Do you feel that sometimes you are mindlessly attending the
conferences presented in front of you?

I used to feel the same way.

Attending conferences hoping that at the end of the day I will
discover my Eureka moment why I am in a conference.

But you do not have to experience the same predicament
before you achieve the success you wanted to have in attending the conference.

Here are five things you must know to be successful in
attending a conference.

1.GOAL

What is your goal in attending a particular conference? If
you fail to set a goal, you will be like driftwood floating in the sea that is
the conference.

You will never know at the end of the conference, when it is
time to assess your time, effort and money in a particular conference if you
earned and gained something out of it.

So, always remember, set a goal before you attend a
conference.

2.CONTENT

Know if you will gain from the content of the conference.
Content are the topics that are lined-up to be discussed at the event.

Primarily, the content is the reason why you should be
attending the conference. Research shows that 80% of the attendees placed
content as their number one reason for attending a conference.

So the bottom-line, always be checking the content and
relate this to your need for cutting edge knowledge.

3.SPEAKERS

Of course, who are the speakers, if you are given the
opportunity to listen to experts and successful personalities in your industry
and field of interests, will you let this chance pass you by?

Speakers of the conferences can inspire you or plant the
seed of change that you are looking all along in your life and career.

Therefore, always be checking and asking who will be the
speakers at the conference that you are interested to attend.

4.CO-DELEGATES

Not all of your competitors and peers can be found on LinkedIn
and Facebook, events and conferences are good venues to meet and get to know
them.

In most of the conferences that I produced and organized, I
make it a point when doing an event design that networking and deeper business
socialization are achieved.

I strongly believe, that besides the nourishment of the mind
and heart, the social aspect of the delegates must also be nurtured.

5.BUDGET

There is a saying, the mind is willing but the pocket is
not. Your budget is critical in order to determine if you can or cannot attend
the conference.

In the budget, your logistic needs are a consideration when
you are attending an event.

However, one caveat, always gauge your budget or investment
to the event in relation to the benefits and Return-of-Investment (ROI) that
you are set to gain by attending the conference.

I emphasize the Gauging Process, because I observed that most people just automatically close the door when they feel that the conference is pricey
without taking a look at the bigger picture, or the benefits that most of the
time outweigh the cost of participation.

In summary, you will be successful in all the conferences
that you are planning to attend if you follow the process of knowing your
GOALS, CONTENT, SPEAKERS, CO-DELEGATES and BUDGET.

Having said this, enjoy your event participation and happy
conferencing.